Bye Bye Meta, Hello Metta

A fresh start with my online presence

Well before the election, it was apparent that we were living in a solidified oligarchy, where a very few men have way, way, way (insert several billion more “ways” here) too much money and power, and that they were drastically warping our experience of self, connection, and democracy itself. Since the election, all pretenses are gone, and we’ve been forced to reckon with villainy that would seem unrealistic even if it was written as the plot of a cartoon. In the words of the Buddhist teacher Chogyam Trungpa: “the river of materialism has burst its banks.”

Several members of the broligarchy control how goods and services are distributed. Several control a tremendous portion of our news media. One of these men is so high on ketamine and Aryan visions of conquest right now that none of us even know what to say about it. And perhaps most importantly from a mindfulness perspective, a few of these men control our attention via social media, and wield our need for connection, love, and validation against the interests of humanity. And I—to the degree that choice is possible—want no part of it anymore.

If you need more info on how harmful the Meta platform is (the darkness is woven into the intentionally dystopian origins of its very name), you can find that easily. My guess is you very much already know, and just like me, you’re there simply because your friends and sangha are there, and none of us want to be left out of our communities. If you have a platform, you’re there to reach an audience. For my personal “platform” of teaching and writing, I no longer believe that the shockingly meager benefits of “reaching” the people who follow me on Instagram in the midst of all our distracted scrolling are worth the psychological and social costs of my participation. I will never tell anyone what to do, but I will tell you what I’m not doing anymore. In every area of my life in American society, I am asking the mindful question of my own agency: “what if I make a different choice? What if we made different choices?” Now that’s the real power of mindfulness practice.

If there is one thing I want to practice, as both a creative provider in the online world, it’s putting my resources (to the degree that such is possible) toward empowering that which I want to empower. My most recent episode of The Road Home podcast was all about using Buddhist principles to contemplate this endeavor.

In addition to maintaining the weekly The Road Home podcast, I plan to use Substack to share thoughts, resources, writing, and compassionate action to transform the world. The more energy there is here, the more energy I can put into my offerings here. I have no idea if Substack will eventually go the way of Twitter and Meta before. In end-game capitalism that feels a bit like the last few moves in a round of the Monopoly board game, it’s definitely possible. But, just like any other way of putting yourself out there, it’s worth a shot! At least here, the person who is doing the work reaps most of the benefits of their own creative efforts. That’s a good thing.

For now, if you subscribe, you are supporting my writing, my weekly podcast, and receiving an audio guided meditation every month. Founding members will be invited free to a live weekly Zoom meditation and Q&A with me on Thursday mornings (8-9am ET) beginning in April, 2025.

Thanks so much!